Flowers Wither
by the.striped.one
Summary: Flowers can communicate a lot. They can say "Get well soon" or "I love you". But why always bring flowers? Royai oneshot, with Black Hayate keeping a close look on things unless there is ham to take care of. - Mangaverse; Set after ch.108/ep.64


**Notes:** Just a drabble inspired by the little call from Mustang, after Hawkeye is all shaky because of Pride.

**Setting: **A few days after the end fight._ So there be spoilers for the end of the series._

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FMA or it's characters. I just play a bit with them for personal enjoyment.

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**Flowers wither**

1st Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye kicked the door close behind her, loaded with groceries. Black Hayate sat down beside her like a good boy, waiting for his master to unclasp him. Hawkeye put the two brown bags she was carrying on the moving boxes next to her door and freed her young dog.

"There you go." She threw her hand forward, signaling him his freedom.

Tail wiggling, Hayate sprinted over to his bowls and began drinking like he just had run a marathon.

The Lieutenant picked up the bags again and carried them into her kitchen – or rather the small kitchenette occupying one of the corner's of what was pretty much her living room, even so it didn't really look the part. Her apartment was such a mess. The majority of the cardboard boxes from when she moved to Central were still unpacked. She only had dug out the things she had needed and just didn't find the time to properly setup. Well, it wasn't like her apartment in East City had been a place that screamed "comfortable". But she wasn't at home much anyway - not in East, not in Central.

That won't change in the future. The thought of the Colonel's message made her smile. She had still been in the medical shelter, when a certain sparkling Major came bustling in, telling her:

"_Message from Colonel Mustang: I'm going to be busy again. Follow me!"_

Lieutenant Hawkeye had to stay in the very busy hospital for a few days. The doctors wanted to keep her in surveillance, even so there were so many others who were severely hurt. A few had been her doing directly. She frowned at the thought of the many people she had injured during their storm on central.

The Colonel had surprised her with a visit and she could finally see for herself that he got his sight back. Thinking about it, she needs to let him know that she got released from the hospital.

The first thing she had done, was to pick up Hayate from Fuery, who had been so kind to look after him while she was pinned down in the hospital bed. And well then she went shopping, so her dog and herself had something to eat. Central was still chaotic, but it seemed to get better.

Hawkeye refilled a metal bucket with the new acquired dog fodder. Hayate watched her closely in case a little piece lost it's way and missed the container. After she closed the lit the canine got an affectionate scratch behind his ear.

"I know, you'll get your portion right away."

His master walked over to his two bowls and grabbed one of them, but suddenly her pet averted his attention from her and the focus demanding procedure of getting his dinner and padded to the door instead, his tail and ears stiffly upright.

Since Hawkeye didn't hear a sign of whatever Black Hayate was hearing or smelling, she figured it hadn't anything to do with her and continued to clean his bowl. He always ran to the door whenever someone passed in the hallway or whatever he was noticing – so she ignored her dog starting to bark at the entrance. It mostly was false alarm. The blonde already prepared herself to scold her young dog for making a ruckus about nothing again as she sat down the now full food bowl on the floor – but it wasn't false alarm this time. A knock. Loud and clear, on her door.

Black Hayate let a low growl out, making him sound like an adult already. She commanded him to sit and wait and he obeyed unwillingly, but prompt.

The blonde opened her door only to find a very familiar figure there. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Colonel!"

Colonel Mustang stood there with a weird look on his face. He wore private clothes – black trousers and vest over a white shirt, a beige scarf hung loosely around his neck and his black coat was open.

"Evening, Lieutenant." Her superior pursed his lips, yet it didn't seem unfriendly.

"What are you doing here, Sir?" It was then the Lieutenant fully spotted the object in his hands, he pushed it towards her without a word.

"... what is that ...?" Her gaze fully shifted to the item in question.

"A vase."

"I can see that ..."

"Then don't ask." the Colonel uttered in a childish voice, his face unchanged.

It was a vase indeed. The bulky pot was dark blue, but the heavy color was interrupted throughout with a light pink ornament. It was big enough to hold a massive bouquet.

"A vase?"

Mustang just nodded and held it in her direction again.

She stood there dumfounded, not sure what to make of the situation. Black Hayate couldn't stand it anymore and jumped up the Colonel's leg, barking. That seemed to get the pair out of their awkward trance. Mustang grinned, finding it amusing the dog dared to defy his strict master and tried to pet him, but the dog didn't seemed to be interested in his advances. Hawkeye didn't find it amusing at all and scolded her hairy friend, giving him a warning finger, accompanied with a "Bad!". Hayate got the message and sat still, seemingly pouting about getting scolded.

"Sorry, about that, Sir."

"No problem at all." He smiled warmly at her now. He held out the vase again. "It's for you."

"A vase?"

"Yes, it is, we've been there already.", he retorted playfully.

She took the object hesitantly from him, eying it intently. The Colonel raised an eyebrow.

"Don't look at it as if it's dangerous."

She looked up at him again, it looked like the back of her head worked hard, trying to piece the gift and common sense together.

"No, sorry, I didn't mean to-.. uhm, thank you." suddenly remembering that it was indeed a gift.

"Ah, do you want to come in? I could prepare some tea, Colonel."

"Sure." Mustang followed her into her flat, closing the door behind him and his subordinate's pet. Hayate padded after him, observing the guest carefully.

The Colonel had to chuckle at the boxes scattered around, it looked very similar at his place. Spotting the shopping bags he asked:

"Ah, you just got some groceries, hm Lieutenant?"

"Yes, there wasn't anything eatable anymore when I returned."

Black Hayate finally found his full bowl more interesting than the intruder and dug in.

"You didn't tell me you were released.", he stated flatly.

She looked at him, mild surprise showing on her face: "I'm sorry, Sir. I just got released a few hours ago, I would have told you soon."

"I ran into Fuery by chance. He told me you had just picked up your dog. So I kind of ended up coming here to pay a visit. Sorry, if it's too late or inconvenient."

"No no, it's not a problem, I'm just surprised." she turned his back to him and prepared the tea.

"Even so I just went shopping, I don't have that much here, but in case you're hungry …?"

The Colonel sat down at the table. "To be honest I haven't eaten yet, so if it's not too much trouble – I'd care for a bite."

"I don't have anything that would cause much trouble, so don't worry about it."

He watched her silently. His eyes wandering from the patch that still covered her neck, to the light blouse she wore, to the black skirt wrapping around her hips. Her long, blonde hair fell freely on her shoulders.

All the years, all the days, all the hours they had spent beside each other – and still such on occasion was rather rare. They seldom met out of uniform and when it often was work after all. Or a little coup against the Führer and the Homunculus pulling the strings behind the scenes.

And now they sat here together, in this sad little room, to drink tea and to eat a simple meal. Her voice seemed softer to him than in the office. She always seemed a bit different when they were alone. Mustang wondered if his voice changed, too.

"Is bread fine?" the blonde asked peeking over her shoulder. The man at her table gave her an approving nod.

"I'll help." He stood up and trotted to her side and unwrapped the loaf of bread sitting on the counter. His Lieutenant handed him a knife before he could ask.

For a while they just stood next to each other, working in silence.

Hayate had finished his dinner and continued to stare at the Colonel intently. He just sat there, his big, dark eyes fixed on the man beside his master – tail not wiggling.

A low chuckle suddenly was heard from the direction of Hawkeye.

"Is it funny how I slice the bread?", he gave her look, grinning at the rare display of a laughing Lieutenant.

"No, it isn't. … that one is a little too thick, though.", she remarked when she spotted the uneven slices before her Colonel, poking one of them with a tea spoon.

"You are serious aren't you?"

"You asked, Colonel.", she still smiled. "But it's not what I found funny."

He attempted to make perfect slice to show her – but failed, cutting it too slim. Giving the bread a death glare and trying to avert the focus, he asked despite already having an idea:

"What was funny then?"

Hawkeye removed the tea leaves from the tea can.

"My dog seems quite taken by you.", she sounded genuinely amused. Both looked over at the young canine, still fixated on the Colonel, he hadn't moved an inch.

"Is it really me or is it the bread?" The man tried to induce the dog to move by returning his gaze, but all he accomplished was hearing a low growl. That was his answer.

"I suppose not, huh?"

Another chuckle. "Guess, you are right with that … he would try the 'cute-puppy-eyes' approach if he was in for the food. Also bread is a bit under his standards-" she watched as the Colonel started on the ham. "That's more like it."

Mustang grunted and chopped off a little piece. Turning, he kneed down, ham in hand.

"Want that my furry friend?"

Finally, Hayate shifted his gaze from the Colonel to the piece of meat the man waved in front of his face. It was Mustang's turn to be amused.

"Haha, you want it right?" He moved his hand up and down, now eyes fixed on the treat Hayate mimicked the motion with his head. Mustang laughed, enjoying to make the dog nod.

"You gonna stop to glare at me?" Hayate continued to nod, visibly impatient.

"Good!", Mustang grinned and threw the ham to the other side of the room, Hayate instantly gave chase.

"I'm SO good. Saw that?", the dark haired man poked the Lieutenant with his elbow, looking extremely pleased with himself.

She commented simply, face unchanged: "You shouldn't reward him without giving a command first."

Mustang made a face at her words, but retorted smugly : "I commanded him to stop glaring at me!"

In turn his Lieutenant gave him a glare.

They put the dishes, bread, tea, butter, ham, cheese and et cetera on the table, while chatting about how things in Central unfolded.

"Hmm yeah, it's still pretty chaotic isn't it? But people are calmer than I would have expected after having their President Führer killed." Hawkeye sat down at the table and started to fill the two plain white cups in front of her.

"Yeah, but they do have a lot of theories. Some really crazy- thank you", he took the cup the blonde pushed over to him and took in the pleasant scent coming from it. "Some even claim that the Führer wasn't even human."

The Lieutenant took a sip from her tea, smiling slightly. "People sure are crazy."

Black Hayate slowly snuck back to his post – next to Mustang - to continue his task, still licking his snout in the hope to savor the taste of the quality ham for a while longer, but the humans ignored him for now.

Mustang ripped a slice of bread in two and dipped one half in the white sauce sitting on the table.

"Führer Grumman said he's going to promote me a rank and he consented to me being in charge of the east.", he nibbled on the bread with pleasure.

"That's good. It's back to the East then?"

"Yup.", he gulped down the last bite of the bread in his hand and eyed her seriously. "Last chance to back out, Lieutenant."

She didn't answer with the same seriousness in her voice, but he knew it was sincere: "Like I would after all this time."

Hawkeye sliced a tomato and placed two pieces on the cheese occupying the bread in front of her. "It's not like I have a lot of packing to do anyhow", she chuckled, nodding toward a few boxes right next to them. On the boxes the vase from before stood, looking ridiculously misplaced.

Her Colonel chuckled, too and picked up his knife to slice a bit of cucumber, but stopped when the shiny metal reflected his neck.

"I ...", he started but suddenly the patch on her neck stared at him - and the sight of her lying in front of him, bleeding nearly to death came back fluttering in front of his eyes. She looked expectantly at him, but waited for him to continue on his own.

"Thank you for obeying my order."

"... Sir?"

"Staying alive.", he paused looking at the remains of the tea in his cup. "I'm glad you're still alive." His voice was soft, yet firm.

"You, too, Colonel", she replied, her voice just as soft and firm. "I'm also glad you got your sight back."

"I still failed to claim the spot as the Führer, though. I'm sorry for that."

Hawkeye took a moment to respond to that and chose against saying what had come first into her mind and said instead:

"You still haven't failed completely, though."

Mustang chopped off another piece of ham and threw it over the room, giving the command "Go over there!" when a certain canine followed the flying object swiftly. He felt a "Are you serious?"-glare coming from across the table.

"He did it again! Even so I ignored him the whole time, he didn't stop to fix me with these dark eyes of his!"

"You seem to be his new idol." Hawkeye grinned into her cup.

The Colonel grunted, throwing a slice of cheese on his bread and decorated it with a bit of cucumber. "I don't understand your dog. He doesn't seem to like it when I try to feed him at the office either. And now he stares at me as if I'm an alien."

"Another cup?", she asked when seeing that he had emptied his first serving and ignoring his little outburst in the process.

"Yes, please."

"Speaking of not understanding ...", she narrowed her eyes asking, but refilled his cup neatly.

"What could that be, Lieutenant?", he grinned, following her sideways glance.

"Why did you bring me that?", she pointed the tea can towards the bulky object in the corner.

Mustang, obviously enjoying himself, tried to act hurt: "_'That'_? So heartless! I took my time picking it especially for you."

Hawkeye, obviously annoyed by his demeanor, didn't need to act: "But why?"

"It's good manners to bring something when you visit someone in the hospital."

"... you didn't bring me anyth-"

"That's why I brought you this lovely vase to make up for it!", he shoved the bread topped with cheese into his mouth.

The blonde seemed to be at a loss for words and just looked from the vase to the Colonel and back to the vase again.

"The pink ornaments give it a nice feminine touch, don't you think?", he beamed at her.

"... there was no need to bring me anything, Sir.", Hawkeye finally exclaimed.

The Colonel couldn't help it – he loved when his stern subordinate lost her composure, even when it was just this little. The look on her face was such a rare sight – and oh so very admirable and amusing.

"2nd Lieutenant Catalina brought you Flowers, though didn't she?"

"... yes, but-"

"Even Führer Grumman send a bouquet with wishes for you to get well soon."

"There was no need-"

"So why can't I bring you a vase?"

"It's not about that, Colonel ...", she watched as her dog returned to the spot next to the intruder and resumed his staring.

"It's just … why a vase?"

Mustang folded his arms in front of his face and rested his head on them, looking at her sheepishly: "Would you have preferred flowers?"

"It's not that … a vase is just- … a bit unusual?"

"Is it?", he paused and continued to eye her, 'accidentally' dropping another piece of ham .. which magically flew across the room again. "You said you didn't have one."

She looked at him in surprise.

"Remember? I called because I bought a ton of flowers-"

"Ahhh right, because you got drunk. I remember.", she visibly was able to recollect it now.

"Of course you remember that part of the conversation ...", the Colonel pouted.

"It's just amazing you remembered - that was months ago."

"Don't sound so surprised.", he whined a bit childishly. "You really had none, right? Or did you just want to get rid of me?"

"No, I really have none. The only one I owned broke when I moved to Central."

"Now you do.", Mustang still smiled and tried to push the dog that just had returned away with his foot. "You didn't bring the flowers from the hospital with you, huh?"

"Well, I _didn't_ have a vase anyway.", she answered highlighting the past tense properly. "And I have to admit I'm not too fond of cut flowers anyway, they wither so fast."

"Hmm, maybe I should have brought flowers in a pot? Since bouquets are short lived anyway.", Mustang sipped on his tea looking content.

"... No, the vase is just fine.", she eyed the object in question, but the uneasiness about it was gone now. "Thank you, Colonel."

"Don't break it on purpose when we move back to East City. It would be sad if it had a short life like a bouquet after all."

Hawkeye grinned into her cup again: "I'll try not to, Sir."

She placed her cup on the table and nodded towards her dog who sat right out of the reach of the Colonel's foot, eyes on the man only. "But in turn- Please don't elope with my dog."

"... I'll try not to, Lieutenant."

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_Author's notes:_

Thank you very much for reading!

Feel free to tell me if you enjoyed this little piece of nonsense or found it boring. I won't punish you for leaving feedback. I'm nice aren't I?

I decided to leave it to your imagination how the evening continues ;) I also refrained from emphasizing the vase and it's meaning too much, you guys are smart, I'll leave the interpretation to you :3


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